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| In this photo from May 13, 2020, people line up in front of AVENUEL of the Lotte Department Store in the Myeongdong area of Seoul, on the day before Chanel's May price hike. Korea Times file |
By Ko Dong-hwan
More than a hundred people lined up in front of Lotte Department Store's main store in Seoul Wednesday amid rumors that Chanel will raise prices soon.
People crowded around the facade of AVENUEL, an annex to the department store in the Myeongdong area of Jung District, where shops selling luxurious brands are concentrated. According to Yonhap, a local news agency, several people started lining up sitting on portable folding chairs before 6 a.m., more than four hours before the department store's opening. By 8 a.m., there were more than 100 people in line.
Temperatures dropped from the previous day to 3 degrees Celsius in the early morning, but that did not stop eager shoppers from waiting. A kiosk in front of the shop handed out a number of tickets to keep the situation orderly.
Luxury brands, according to Yonhap, tend to be quiet about any looming price adjustments. But it has been the industry's convention that there are one or two times a year when luxury brands' prices are adjusted.
Chanel raised prices in May and December of 2020. The day before Chanel items came out with the new price tags, many people lined up in front of its stores.
